Teenagers These Days...

...can do some amazing things. One of A.'s friends, a cancer survivor, is holding a dance fundraiser, to raise money for the Children's Neuroblastoma Cancer Foundation. The CNCF conducts research and holds conferences for survivors, families fighting the cancer and families who have lost a child to neuroblastoma.

She was diagnosed with this form of cancer when she was 1 year old. Doctors at the time gave her a 30 percent chance of survival. After chemotherapy, her cancer went into remission. Now 15-she is still cancer-free.

Together with 15 other people from her confirmation class, she is hoping to raise $5,000 through "Dance for Life" at St. Patrick's Church on Feb. 2.Here's more-


Check out their video-powerful.


Here's someone who is fighting to make a difference. I plan to support her.

Hot Water in Air

Today it was -14 degrees when we woke up.

So we tried the hot water in air experiment again-this time with boiling water. Check it out.

HB 2 U!

S is a teenager today.

Happy Birthday!

Clarinet Recital

S. had a clarinet recital last Sunday-it was great! Nicely done!

Not That Cold

Today when I woke up it was -13. (that's -25 Celsius if any of you are so inclined)

Brrr.

So I thought we would try the Throw the Water in the Air to See If It Freezes test. We did. Twice. The water came down kinda like -- water. The second time we tried less water, thinking smaller droplets might freeze quicker. When G tossed it up in the air, you could see little crystallized droplets shining in the bright sunlight. But no "tink tink" sound as they fell to the ground.

So I guess it's really not THAT cold.

Although that's not how I felt at the bus stop.

Yum-Girl Scout Cookies

Here they are, they look so good!
Girl Scout Cookies
The little kid is selling-so let us know if you want some. (but we can't sell any until tomorrow, 1/19 is GO Day!)

Let There Be...

...Heat!

Yes, we have heat again in our house after over 24 full hours without it. Hmm-some things we just take for granted.

With 3 space heaters (one in each bedroom) sleeping that night without heat was very comfortable. Then in the morning we just moved the heaters around, turned on the oven to heat up the kitchen, and so forth. Not so bad.

But boy was I happy-when at about 3pm I heard that familiar sound of forced air, WARM forced air, coming through the vents!

And today it is 3 degrees as we wake up-so it's all fixed, and not a moment too soon.

I'm going to buy a space heater to have on hand though-just in case.

In Love

I'm in love! Yes-it's true.

I can't really get close and personal though, because my affection is caused by something small, hard, square, and right now-very very hot.

You see-we have no heat in the house. It is in the teens today, was -3 when I woke up. We have some kind of furnace issue about once a year, and when it happens, our Friendly Energy Company sends over a couple space heaters. The objects of my affection.

Ah-the icicles are melting from my elbows now...

Happy Birthday, Mrs. L.!

Happy Birthday to my teacher! From your student G.

This is really funny & I hope you have your laughing mouth on...



(My mom says she is the one with the fan)

Cacti!

After Christmas, one of my very favorite things is...spending money. OK-that maybe should be the beforehand thought/action. As before Christmas I am thinking about spending on great gifts for everyone. And my wallet and checking account is quickly emptied in my gift-giving furvor. And that is OK.

Then after Christmas, well...it's about me. Well just only if I happen to receive a check as a gift, intended to be used to buy something that I like.

So the Little Kid and I went to Bachman's, a local flower/garden place-really one of my favorite such places, to look at plants, maybe buy a cactus. These are fun, unique, and of course the best feature, they require little/no care.

So that is what we did! Thank you for the gifts.

We have Brainiac-G's, plus the little ceramic pot that we bought for it to live in. Mine is called Cherry Bomb-which I put in the cool pot the G made me for Mother's Day. They join Spikey-G's cactus, and the bamboo-oh the subject of our very very first blog post!

These cactuses thrive in a warm sunny window, and we water them once a month with about a tablespoon of water. This I can definitely handle!

Snowman

The other day it started to thaw. Actually it was about 40, so it was melting pretty good. 2 daughters went out and made a little snowman. Fun!

Winter Break Traditions

OK, even though it's not winter break any more...I'm going to tell you about a tradition that we have.

Over break at our house, with 3 daughters, the 2 week stretch of free time, when you navigate around holiday activities -- baking & shopping & other preparations before, Christmas, then New Year's -- there is one thing that is always, ALWAYS a part of winter break.

Sleepovers.

Each girl typically has a sleepover, with a couple friends, or for the little kid one friend.

For S. it was nice, yet tiring, and since they were truly just enjoying each others' company and totally oblivious to anything else (or anyone else) -- loud.

That afternoon, oh the smells of cupcakes baked for the party (so they could decorate them later). Such a homey, sweet baked smell.
They did have a blast, and I may have grumbled, but after a few nights of good sleep, all was good again.

Got Birds?

Hmm-I have these 2 birdfeeders in the backyard, filled with black sunflowers. The birds love them. Or, I should say, "loved."

They liked them so much, that I bought a second birdfeeder this fall, because I was having to fill it up about every day or so.

But now, for some strange reason, they stopped coming. Altogether. The feeders are sitting there, filled to the brim, and have been for weeks. I even took a pinecone, smeared peanut butter on it and rolled it with sunflower seeds! Nothing.

Perplexing.

Skating

We have a beautiful place to skate in our community. It's on a lake/stream and the setting is so nice. The day was very cold, about 4 degrees, wind chill -15 or so. So we had to go warm up quite often.

But nothing a nice cup of hot chocolate couldn't remedy.